Rodeo Old Fort Days

I was up until 2am packing and getting ready for the rodeo then up at 6am to get ready to go... Those sleep hours seem to be becoming an unfortunate trend but it's worth it! I was so excited about Rodeo Old Fort Days and seeing some of my rodeo friends that I didn't care much about the lack of sleep. I didn't plan on bringing Shiloh because I didn't want him to be in the way. I went inside to grab another load of things to put in my truck and returned to find that Shiloh and jumped over the tailgate into the
truck! He was not going to be left behind. His love is so perfect. On my way out I met with one of my sponsors, The Dusty Rose Boutique, to pick up the most comfortable boots I've ever worn and some very adorable jewelry. Then headed to the tire shop to get a stud put in my trailer tire but they didn't have to time get to it... So Ft. Smith Bound it was!


I got Max settled and parked the trailer then got ready for the Mayors Luncheon. During the lunch, the contestants answered impromptu questions and did a bit of modeling. We had a delicious meal and a wonderful time of mingling and catching up with everyone. I had the pleasure of rooming with the 2014 Miss Rodeo Arkansas State Fair, Beth Barnett, and we definitely made some great memories! The girls all signed autographs at Roland Farm and Feed Supply before the performance. The rodeo had a great turn out! After the rodeo I took care of Max and headed back to the trailer and as I walking up to the door Stephanie comments "Oh I thought you were rooming with Beth." "I am" I said. She replies, "Umm that's definitely the next trailer down." I'm going to blame that on the fact that it was dark and about 12:30pm.

Signing Autographs! Are you tough enough to wear pink??

Our camper didn't have any warm water. I'm not a baby about many things but a cold shower is one thing I can barely stand. But the sport of rodeo is a family event..  I trudged on over to the Stamp's camper and took a speedy shower in the dark. I hung out for a while and visited with the talented Mrs. Sherry Smith and Riki Smith then Katie came in to practice her speech and ask for some pointers. That's the part of I love about rodeo.. everyone is willing to lend a helping hand to one another. Anyways, after having hairspray caked hair covered in dirt and sweat, it is always so nice to get cleaned off. The light in the bathroom didn't work but there was some light coming through the window. Just enough for me to realize that what I thought was my travel size conditioner, that I just lathered in my hair, was actually makeup remover... Yep, I managed to pack makeup remover for conditioner! I can tell you that makeup remover does not remove remove tangles. Thankfully the pageant has wonderful sponsors and we were given Cowboy Magic shampoo and conditioner so when I got back to my camper I smeared some in my hair to help get rid of the rats nest that had formed in my hair throughout the day! Beth and I stayed up chatting and then called it a night around 2 am!

6am came soon but Shiloh and I were up and around to clean out Max's stall, wash him down, and feed and water him. Thankfully the weather wasn't 100 degrees but the humidity from the rain made the stalls stuffy so I wanted to get him cooled down. After getting him cared for I got myself ready so Beth and I headed to the fashion show. Of course her phone brings us through the ghetto and we thought we'd just stop for breakfast.. of course there is no sign of any food so we have to drive out the way to a Burger King where my cup of oatmeal was more like water!

The fashion show was loads of fun and every girl nailed their speeches!! We concluded by several of us meeting up at Logan's for a wonderful lunch! I thought I was going to go back to the camper and take a nap but Harper Stadium was wide open and Max had never ran a flag before so I rode for a good hour or more and Maximus did wonderful!

 That night while signing autographs in the stands, a group boys came up and one said "Your shirt is BEEAAUUTiful! And you're sooo pretty." Needless to say I hung out there for a while chatting and answering questions. They were so priceless!

What a great weekend it was in Ft. Smith Arkansas! And I didn't even get lost!! I made it to a rodeo with no mishaps! But I spoke to soon. With sleepy eyes I pulled into the drive and back up my trailer to hear a screeching sound and smelled something burning. Which turned out to my rear right trailer wheel bearing, u-joint and break! My guardian angel was watching out because if we would have gone another mile. I believe it would have flew off because that is exactly what happened when Nathan and Drew were taking it to the shop the next day. It could have been a bad a ordeal. And while I'm still trailer-less a week later... everyone was safe and sound and I have some great friends who are willing to loan a trailer. I don't know how I manage or how I end up being so blessed but I do!

Live life to it's fullest and love every chance that you get!!

Something Borrowed

You know that part in the Disney movies where nothing else can possibly go wrong then it starts to rain... Soon after the dramatic lightening starts and a storm begins? That's kind of how I felt lately. As of today I am paying on a truck that I don't get to drive because it has one problem after another, my horse needs adjusted.. again and his teeth need floated, my trailer has had 2 flats in 2 weeks and I need to get new tires, most of my paycheck goes to my horses and I'm not getting the work hours I expected to get over the summer.

That being said; with all of the situations I still can't believe how fortunate I am. Olivia and I haul together to Rounders practice. She is borrowing a horse that's not much further to drive, plus we get to do some catching up on the way to practice. As we were chatting I notice smoke billowing from the right side of my trailer and immediately knew it's the tires. I thought I would be cheap and use the old tires off of my F150 for my trailer to avoid getting all new tires after my blow out last week. Two words: Bad. Idea. The tire shop didn't warn me that the tires pretty much didn't fit and were rubbing on the trailer. We pulled into a church parking lot and hopped out of the truck. As soon as I checked the tire, I was on the phone with Nathan; at the same time, Olivia was on the phone with Kent, one of our Rounders coordinators, to let them know we would be late. We unloaded the horses and shortly after; a sweet man from the church arrived to help us out since we didn't have a jack. After removing the tire, it was obvious that if we had gone any further; it would have been a blow out. The tire wall was rubbing the trailer! Nathan and John showed up with a patch kit but the tire was past help... We called Sach and without hesitation he pulled his truck and trailer to the church so we could get to practice. Nate and John were sweet enough to load our tack and clothes into Sach's rig while we got the horses loaded.  Sach unloaded our horses so we could change into our Rounders outfits and make a run to the arena to get our pictures done. Of course it was picture day... My hair was flat and I lost a back to my earring. We ended up making it, only 15 minutes late! Good thing we left super early with intentions of getting warmed up and having plenty of time to do makeup without rushing. After our group and individual pictures I threw an Impact Gel pad borrowed from David Edwards with Lone Creek Performance Horses and a saddle borrowed from Rikki Taylor because mine isn't fitting Maximus correctly then got warmed up.

Practice was productive and I cannot wait to see the finished routine! Our first rodeo is in less than 3 weeks. On the way home we had to run all over place and first dropped off my horse then Olivia's and she brought me to my trailer then back home... The next morning I woke up early to get things ready for a busy day ahead. Got a tire put on my wheel for a spare then changed my flat but not without an offer from my sweet friend Dan to run to the rescue if I had an ounce of trouble. I took my trailer to the shop where the tire man wanted to put different sized tires.. which didn't seem like the best idea so.... home it was and off to work. That afternoon and throughout the day I had numerous board members and friends checking to make sure everything was okay. My rodeo family is simply the best.

A borrowed truck, a borrowed saddle pad, a borrowed saddle and borrowed hauling rig... if it wasn't for those that have helped me along the way, I literally would not be able to follow my dreams. At times it is so challenging to keep my eyes on the prize. It would be so easy to throw in the towel and call it quits. It would be less stressful, less expensive and less of a hassle. But I don't want less. I want more. I want to be the best I can be and to be an example for every child that has a dream that seems too far out of reach. I may not have the best of anything but I do have a support team that is absolutely amazing! I will say one thing: I don't admit defeat. I will not give up on my dreams and I will not quit when the going gets tough. Everything happens to us for a reason.

Live life with no regrets! P.S. I got my pictures done for my Miss Rodeo Arkansas Application!

Rooster Days Rodeo... NOT carnival

A huge thank you to Steve Smith for the hauling truck!!

In preparation for this trip I printed out and got everything together the night before so there would, hopefully be nothing to worry about. I finished my final at noon and with excitement of the semester being completed, rushed home to finish loading and headed to pick up Miss Rodeo Old Fort Days, Jessica Stamps. I am so thankful that we live only a short 15 minutes away so it's super easy haul together. Right on track, we head toward Broken Arrow, OK around 2:45. It's meant to be an hour and 45 minute drive... it didn't quite turn out to be like that.

We discovered that Jessica's and my own inability to give directions or quite frankly follow signs is a terrible combination. We somehow make it to Broken Arrow Oklahoma around 4:30, just in time for rush hour traffic. At that point, we became a bit skeptical of our printed directions, so we pull off of the interstate to a gas station to ask for directions. Jessica asks how to get to the rodeo and the clerk confidently answers by giving directions, complete with road names and approximations of the distance to go before each turn. Glad to know that we were only 20 minutes away, we follow our directions and soon arrive at a steeet lined with cars and people mingling. We ask a traffic directing police officer where contestant parking is and he quickly replies he doesn't know and motions for us to continue on. We stop to ask an official looking guy the same thing. He has no idea. So we make turn and see a couple of police officers blocking a road to ask where the rodeo parking was. Their response... "Rodeo? What Rodeo?" After spending some time on their radio's we discover that the rodeo grounds were 18 miles in the direction we just came from!! The lady who gave us directions sent us to Rooster Days Carnival!

We defeatedly gave in and decide to give in and plug the address into our phones. Which takes us in the general direction of the rodeo grounds... then spins us in a circle... 3 TIMES!! Because the address we were given was incorrect! Looking for any sign of rodeo, we notice a man in a PT cruiser wearing a cowboy hat that got off on the same exit as us so Jessica says "Follow that man in the cowboy hat!!" It sounded like the best idea and ended up getting us to the rodeo grounds, still with time to spare!

Jessica and I had not been to the Rooster Days Rodeo before but found that it was a much smaller scale than expected. We warmed up our horses then found the dangerous part of rodeos... THE BLING. We were very good though and didn't spend any money (since we just wasted and arm and a leg on diesel to tour Broken Arrow, OK with a horse trailer). We had the pleasure of meeting up with the ACRA queen, Karli Jones. Unfortunately, we did not get do a queens run but pushing cows was a great experience to get our horses out for the first rodeo of many to come. The sound system kept getting static and both of our horses were beside themselves about the noise! But we were glad to have them in the arena to get their nerves settled down, it is so important for a horse to be able to succeed in the arena in any situation. This was Max's third time to EVER push cows and I could not be more proud of him! He was really watching and knew where we were pushing them to after the first time but kept getting a little excited every time the chute would open because he didn't get why he had to wait to chase them. After the rodeo we were treated to sandwiches at the hospitality tent and they seemed to be the best sandwiches ever since neither of us had a chance to grab lunch.

Thankfully we made it out of Broken Arrow with a lot less trouble than we made it in. On our way home we went to drop of Jessica's horse since she is going out of town next week and I had the pleasure of meeting a good friend of hers, Jerry, who was sweet as pie and had so many stories to tell! Unfortunately, we had to wrap up the stories because it was already 1am and I had to up at 6am the next morning. We are on our way, headed through Siloam  when we here loud dragging sound so we turn down the radio and listen closer to see sparks flying off the tire on the trailer. Before we could even get pulled over I was on the phone with my boyfriend, Nathan. I tell him that we had a flat tire and thankfully he heads straight our way. When we get out of the truck in the Walgreens parking lot.. we realize it's not just a flat. It is a straight up blow out! So we unload Max (poor thing didn't know what to think) and pull out our lawn chairs because Nate has a better part of 45 minute drive... or with the way he drives it's more like a 30 minute drive. As we were sitting there, a police officer pulls over and were sure he's going to check on us. NOPE, the man in his uniform and cop car does not even look our way! He gets out, gets a Redbox movie and leaves..We thought it to be  bit strange because wouldn't anyone who sees two young girls with tire blow out, a horse and a dog in the parking lot in town at 1:30am inquire to see if we at least had some help coming? Maybe he didn't see the blow out and thought we were just tired of driving and decided to get comfy at the Walgreens...

Thankfully Nate was to the rescue and put on the spare tire to find the spare, only to find that it was a different size than the others! We didn't have any other option though we went drop off Jessica and finally made it home and unloaded around 3:00am. I can say one thing; rodeo has definitely taught me a lot of "live and learn" experiences!

Let rodeo season begin!
"Ride with passion & Rope your dreams"
2013 Miss Rodeo of the Ozarks
Kelsey Parmenter

Loving Life

I am a week behind on my posts! With finals this week, it has been tough to find time to keep all of my ducks in a row. The week before last was a whirl wind! Monday I visited Lowell Elementary for a Horse Tales event (wrote about in previous article, Wednesday was the stick horse rodeo at Parsons Stadium, Thursday was Farm Friends followed by another stick horse race on Friday! I think Rodeo of the Ozarks was represented at most of the children's Ag promotions programs going on in the area.

I was fortunate to perform our Rounders routine with talented girls who have quickly become my great friends! For only having had 2 full practices at a lope, the performance went rather well. After performing we rushed to our station to do face tattoos for some 1700 1st graders. At the stick horse rodeo Springdale students get to spend the day learning about different rodeo events and aspects of western life by going to different stations that have activities such as line dancing, cow milking and calf dummy roping. When mingling with the kids I'd ask them their favorite part of the days events so far and almost every one of them replied that it was "watching the girls ride the horses." That basically made my day!

At Farm Friends is quite similar to the Stick Horse Rodeo but for children of all ages are brought to see different aspects and portions of farm life by looking at interactive stations such as poultry production, learning about horses, rabbits and other animals. I was stationed with Jim House, the farrier. I had just visited with him at Horse Tales as he was teaching the kids about shoeing horses there as well! I had the privilege to tell kids about how and why we shoe horses. They had several sample shoes to look at hold. One boy picked up the biggest one and said "this one weighs 50 feet heavy!" Not long after, a young man walked up to me, put his hands on his hips and said "how many packs is this horse?" Pointing to the horse that Jim was shoeing.  I told him I wasn't quite sure what he was referring too. So he grabbed my hand and pulled me around the front of the horse and points to his chest and asked "You know, how strong is he?" That's when I realized he was assuming that a horse has chest muscles like a person... a 4-pack or 6-pack! It was all I could do not to start laughing but I held it together and explained to him we don't tell a horses strength quite the same way we do a persons. Then there was boy (pictured middle photo on the right) who after I gave him an autograph sheet he started shaking, jumping up down and showing it off! I don't think I've seen anyone get so excited! His reaction was so precious!











Friday was a re run of  Wednesday, getting to be with the Rodeo of the Ozarks Rounders team. Shiloh became the official Rounders Mascot... we decided we're going to get him a shirt made and the whole nine yards! It was another day of face painting. Just when we thought we were finished and picked everything up... another 50  students show up, so without chairs and only a few girls... it was crunch time but no child left without a face tattoo.

Glowin' & Showin'

Sophia invited me to be a part of the children's advocacy Glow Run in down town Rogers which benefits a group in an effort to prevent child abuse. Sophia brought her two ponies, all dolled up, and we visited with kids, let them take photos and visited with the event attendees. I was talking to one girl and signing an autograph sheet. A little bit later a girl came running back up, her name was Gabby. She said "I will always follow my heart." It took me a minute to realize why she said that. When I hand out autograph sheets, I write a note on each one and I wrote "Always remember to follow your heart" on hers. It meant so much to me to to what I wrote to heart.

There was about 1000 attendees! Shiloh was just as big of a hit as the ponies and he was not lacking any attention! Shiloh and I both wore green in support of my cousin, Tony, who was having an organ donation evaluation that day. Green is the color for organ donation so we had to spread the love and let him know we were thinking of him.

After the event wrapped up I rushed to change clothes, threw Max in the trailer and headed to the Oak Grove play day. Maximus is getting his barrel and pole pattern now so we're getting ready to speed things up! The remainder of my weekend consisted of working on my truck, finishing my trailer living quarter project, a great Easter Sunday church service and a very efficient Rounders practice.

Sunday night, I got a last minute call at 9:30pm asking if I could bring tack the Horse Tales event the following morning. Let me recap, Horse Tales for Literacy is a program where 4th graders read a book then get the opportunity to learn first hand about different aspects of horses by spending half a day rotating to different educational stations. Since I was a bit worn out and still had work to do I decided to get up early to get everything together.

After feeding for the morning, I loaded a ton of tack. It started to rain just as I finished loading. I hopped my truck, got ready to take off and remembered I had no windshield wiper fuse. Thank goodness I still have my trusty ole Buck Truck. As the skies opened up and it began to pour I transferred 7 loads of tack and other materials I was using to present, from one truck to the other. Soggy and grumpy, I got into my truck and headed for Lowell Elementary. My mood quickly dissolved because when I arrived the sweetest boy was there to help me trudge everything to the classroom, where I was to present for the day.

I spent the day talking to some 400 4th and 5th graders from area schools about tack and about my job as a rodeo queen. One of my favorite parts of presenting, is giving the kids a chance to ask questions because it is so interesting to hear about what they don't understand. Questions such as: "Does the mouth  hurt them?" "What is that made out of?" "What happens when the horse starts bucking?" were all pretty common and then I was asked "Are you married?" I told them "no" and the boy says "oh well you should meet my friend Jordan Peterson." Thankfully there was another question before I could respond because I was at a loss for words!

The school librarian and teacher assistants were all very hospitable and supplied snacks, water and lunch for the volunteers. I also had the chance to meet Robert and his trick horse, Frosty. He was so impressive! At the conclusion of the day, I cannot help but to look back and think about all of the little girls who tell you they want a horse. While most of the kids seemed to be interested, there are some that I can pick out that have the biggest stars in their eyes. Horse Tales is such an enlightening program and I am so priveleged to be a part of!

AIM n Easter

Thankfully this weekend I don't have a big story about getting lost... maybe that's because the events I attended where in two location in NWA. And I would sure hope that I don't get lost in the area I grew up but if anyone could... it'd be me!

It was another 5:45am Saturday morning but well worth it! I started out by meeting my fellow Rounders girls and several board members at the CrossPoint church in Rogers where some thousand people gathered for an AIM event. The autism awareness event was a success! The support found in their close knit relationships are none to matched! There were bouncy houses, hoola-hooping, chalk painting, and Rodeo of the Ozarks hosted a petting zoo and a few other activities. One huge hit was board members, Sach Oliver and Brian Adams, dressed as rodeo clowns! And the kids loved seeing all of the rounders in their sparkly shirts and cowboy hats.  A dozen vendors advertised and gave samples. Music was playing, food was cooking, a silent auction was taking place and everyone was having a great time! We mingled and I signed autographs and played with kids. There was not a child that didn't touch my heart but one little boy especially captured me. Connor was so enthusiastic, outgoing, and energetic that I couldn't help but to hang out with him.

At 10am the autism awareness 5K walk began. After the crowd dissipated to head to the walk, I snuck away to head to Parsons Stadium for the Easter Egg Hunt. The Easter Egg Roundup was just as big as the AIM event! As soon as I got there I was swarmed by kids with big smiles and Easter baskets full of candy and prizes. I visited with the kids there for a solid two hours until it settled down then headed to get in a two hour ride since weather was a beautiful 75 degrees!

It was a busy but super fun morning! I love my job as a rodeo queen!!!

Rodeo Old Fort Days Clinic

Ft. Smith bound! At 5:15am (on a Saturday might I add), I hit the snooze button twice then rolled out of bed to throw myself together, feed and head to meet Miss Rodeo Old Fort Days, Jessica Stamps, so we could hit the road to Ft. Smith. When I got to her house I practically had to move into her car. Between my queen bag, hat carrier, extra button up, camera bag, tripod, computer case and purse I had at least seven different items to carry. You would be amazed at how many items it takes to stay on top of things; especially when you are photographing for an event.

We chatted the whole way there... and of course managed to miss our exit. I think I'm bad luck when traveling anywhere, especially when it involves queening, because I can literally never get there the first try! Jessica and I both got a bit turned around but we still managed to make it to Kay Rodgers Park for the Old Fort Days Queen Clinic with a little time to spare.

We had the opportunity to meet several young ladies who plan to run for Old Fort Days titles and several others who attended. Dakota Missildine, Miss Rodeo USA 2010, and Jessica Chitwood, Miss Rodeo Arkansas 2012, were the coordinators. The day was filled with a little bit of everything. From modeling to impromptu, interview to horsemanship and speech to general appearance. We covered a number of topics and had some great discussion and practice on the different aspects of rodeo queening. One thing I love about rodeo is everyone's willingness to help one another. While we are in one since competing against each other, everyone is so ready to lend a helping hand or tip. Some of my best friends are current and former rodeo queens! While at the clinic I had the privilege of not only photographing the current queens but also doing a couple of small shoots with some of the attendees.

I cannot wait to see these lovely ladies down the rodeo road! I know they are all going to do so well; not only in queening but in every other aspect of life as well. Saturday was a great refresher for me and I learned some great pointers; especially on modeling and impromptu.

We wrapped up around 3pm and headed for home. We got back onto I-540 and Jessica says "wow, it feels like we're going the wrong way." Me: "yea it does, I get so turned around sometimes." Jessica: "Me too, but I guess this is right. We're on 540 South." At the same time: "South?? Wait, aren't we supposed to be going North?" Yes. We were headed BACK in the same direction when we passed the exit on our way to Ft. Smith. The upside: We got to cross the Arkansas River 5 times in one day! How many people can say that?? I think we learned it's best not to talk while driving.